Is Cryptocurrency Decentralized Enough to Allow Media Their Freedom Of Speech?

Kremlin is cracking down on at least one media organization, namely, Meduza. An independent news organization that has been labeled by the Russian government last week as a foreign agent.

The Russian news organization is now asking for donations in fiat, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance’s native token BNB. The appeal for donations comes after certain restrictions have been placed on the media outlet for being listed as a foreign agent.

The team claims that being labeled as essentially an enemy of the state has hurt their ability to garner funds from advertisements. The news agency is in rough patches. It speaks of the freedom of the press in Russia and then the use-case of cryptocurrencies to get around restrictions placed by the state.

This is the perfect example of the use case of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a great alternative when the state is cracking down and you need to get out of the financial system for whatever reason.

Meduza said in their press statement that their workers’ salaries were potentially at risk because they might be designated as individual foreign agents. If this happens, then apparently it can even lead to felony charges and imprisonment. Thus, it is essentially just a way of government to exert pressure on these reporters. This is a sad state of affairs because freedom of the press is one of the most important fundamental rights any nation or state can have. You need that for the state, you need that pushback and accountability that media gives.

Now that Meduza has been designated essentially as the enemy of the state, it puts them in such a difficult position. They have either to give up their principles or find a way around them and cryptocurrency may be that way around it. Up until now, there have just been talks about the inability of governments to control this incredibly decentralized phenomenon. However, now it has begun to be seen in real times as governments push back; it is to be seen whether it fulfills its promise. Whether cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are actually decentralized enough to allow people freedom of speech and to allow people freedom of financial sovereignty. In addition, if this succeeds then it is such a wonderful promise and such an exciting world to be in.

This is a good use case of cryptocurrency to juxtapose the talk about Bitcoin mixing with private coins and being a means of criminal activity. It can be seen that journalists can be empowered with cryptocurrency. Moreover, it is nice to see that when a government is really suppressing then cryptocurrencies can be seen as a way around it. Therefore, these are situations that cannot be considered a crime and it can be said that cryptocurrencies are being put to the best use.

This is certainly not the first time that cryptocurrency has saved the day as regards freedom of the press. WikiLeaks story, one of the first bull runs in Bitcoin history was when they started accepting Bitcoin donations. They then expanded that to a wide variety of cryptocurrency donations and allowed WikiLeaks to continue to function.